News

Sri Lankan stakeholders commit to annual follow-up consultations

13/09/2018

On 22-24 August 2018, national UPR stakeholders participated in a series of follow-up activities in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The Multi-stakeholder dialogue on UPR implementation, co-organised between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Civil Society Collective in Sri Lanka and UPR Info, brought together a cross-section of representatives from national and grassroots civil society organisations; government line ministries, Human Rights Commission (NHRI) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) for a discussion on implementation of Sri Lanka’s 3rd cycle UPR recommendations. On the previous day, civil society had convened for a preparatory meeting in which they updated their action strategy and suggested implementation plan as well as tailoring their approach for the dialogue. The events also encompassed a diplomatic briefing at which resident diplomats were informed about the outcomes of the multi-stakeholder discussion and next steps as well as a press conference. The purpose of the activities was to provide an incentive for inclusive and sustainable realisation of UPR recommendations in a context were civil society is recognised as a legitimate implementation partner.

As a result of the proceedings, stakeholders adopted a Letter of Cooperation in which the Government of Sri Lanka and civil society actors commit to annual multi-stakeholder meetings to assess implementation.

The event was the culmination of a series of UPR activities undertaken by UPR Info and national partner organisations under the umbrella of the In-country programme for Sri Lanka (2017-2018). The full activity report is available here.